HIS MAJESTY BALSAM IN THE HOME
Balsam – Photo
I did not immediately realize the beauty and sophistication of balsams, and having passed through your hands more than one pot of these plants. Later I got the idea to grow them from seeds and use them in the design of a summer balcony.. I want to share my experience.
The optimum temperature for germination of balsam seeds is + 22-25 city.
With lower germination, you can not wait. They appear depending on the variety and quality of the seed, usually within two weeks. I sow in early spring, lightly pressed into a light disinfected peat-based soil. I cover crops with transparent material (I create a greenhouse) and ventilate every day to avoid decay. With the emergence of seedlings, the airing time is gradually increased. I keep the soil evenly moist. When formed in seedlings 2-3 real leaves dive seedlings, carefully, with a lump of earth.
BALSAM PLANTING
I select containers for planting balsams with a diameter 12-15 cm, not more. Noticed, the smaller the pot, the faster the root system fills it, and the plant blooms. I use ready-made universal "Terra Vita", I add coarse vermiculite.
CONTENT AND CARE OF BALSAM
Balsams prefer well-lit areas, but no midday direct sunlight.
I pour water at room temperature. On hot summer days - morning and evening, after checking the moisture content of the earth by hand. In the morning, I additionally spray from a spray bottle. I feed from March to October once every 10 days fertilizer for flowering plants - "Agricola" or "Monopotassium phosphate" according to the instructions.
Balsams respond well to pinching shoots: bush willingly, bloom more magnificently. Growing fast, so I update them once a year by cuttings.
PESTS OF BALSAM
Balsams can be annoyed by aphids and spider mites. Problem prevention - regular inspection, room ventilation, free location, frequent spraying. If pests are found, I treat the plants with a solution of laundry soap, remove the affected parts. If the damage is severe, I spray it with Fito-Verm or Aktara according to the instructions. Plants on open balconies and flower beds, even if pests are not visible on them, I process once a month for prevention.
BALSAM ON BALCONY
This year I brought a large amount of balsams onto the balcony. Part of the plants took up the stand. Others in baskets hung on the balcony railing. In raised pots I planted 2 bush of ampelous varieties. Generally, turned on fantasy.
DIVERSITY
There are many varieties of balsam - flowers of various shapes and colors. This year, a real find for me was the Impreza ‘Cherry Splash’ balsam variety.. Gorgeous flowering in his pots. Camellia balsams also grow from seeds. I will share the experience of growing them, when I wait for abundant flowering.
© Author: Yulia ZAKHAROVA, r. Irkutsk. Photo by the author
BALSAM IN HOME CONDITIONS – LANDING AND CARE, TIPS AND FEEDBACK
SPIDER MITE ON BALSAM – WHAT TO DO?
Has grown balsam from seeds. I cut it off for the winter. Took out to a cool loggia. The other day I noticed, that the remaining leaves are covered with yellow spots. This is normal for a dormant plant.? Or the balsam got sick? To be on the safe side, she cut off all affected leaves.
Valentina GURUSOVA, r. Petrozavodsk
Normally, balsam sheds part of last year's foliage in winter.. However, the leaves gradually and evenly turn yellow., rather than becoming stained. Light dots are a sign of the "work" of a spider mite, which feeds on plant sap, biting into records. The damaged parts of the flower then turn yellow and fall off. In the early stages of defeat, the cobweb, as a clear sign of a pest, may be absent.
EMERGENCY MEASURES
- Sprinkle balsam and all the flowers in the loggia with Fitoverm. Consumption rate - 7-10 ml of 1 l of water. Two treatments with an interval are enough 10 days.
- To fix the preparation on plants, add Liposam to the solution (according to instructions).
- Spray the leaves on both sides. Better to use a fine spray.
Processing is carried out at an air temperature not lower than +18 city. At higher efficiency "Fitoverma" increases.
© Author: Ksenia NEFEDOVA, agronomist, r. Moscow
THE SECRET OF CARE OF HOME BALM
homemade balsam – Photo
Do you want to admire the abundant, long and bright flowering?
Get balsams. They also grow well in containers., and in open ground. When sown in February-March, the buds open already in June. And if cuttings are cut from adult bushes in July-August, then they will bloom in the fall and will delight all winter, provided they are kept warm under a lamp. A biologist shares his experience in growing balsams, collector Elena BEREZHNAYA (r. Omsk).
BALSAM – DESCRIPTION
Botanical name of the genus Impatiens (Impatiens) associated with the property of ripened fruits to crack open and shoot seeds when touched.
Balsam is popularly known as "light", Roly wet.
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
From excess moisture, especially in cold weather and in low light, rot the base of the stem and roots, leaves turn yellow and fall, the plant is affected by gray rot.
Causes of falling buds and flowers: too dry and hot air, soil drying up,
lack of light, excess fertilizer, cold.
If the stems stretched out over time, bare at the bottom, need to renew the plant cuttings.
At too high a temperature and dry air, spider mites attack balsams. Aphid and whitefly attacks are also possible..
THEREFORE, preventive treatments with appropriate drugs are needed., eg, insect acaricide "Fitoverm" (according to instructions). When it's hot, you need to increase the humidity..
ROOTING BALSAM
- To propagate balsams, you can use the apical cuttings remaining from spring pruning 4-6 cm.
- Remove lower leaves, and shorten the remaining large ones by 1/2.
- Put the shoots in water or land in wet sand (can be in a peat-sand mixture).
- Cuttings root easily and quickly grow.. Shoots need to pinch several times.
- Young plants bloom in summer.
- To preserve the varietal qualities of most modern hybrids, they are propagated only by cuttings..
SECRETS OF CARE OF BALSAM
| Light | bright diffused. With a lack of lighting, the plant blooms weakly or does not bloom at all.. The optimal place is on the east or west windowsill, in the south it is necessary to shade from the midday sun. In winter, daylight hours are 10 hours. Since June, balsam can be taken out into the fresh air, protected from direct rays and precipitation. Or land in the ground in a semi-shady place until the end of summer, then return to the pot or cut and root the apical cuttings |
| Temperature | From spring to autumn - +20-22 city, (In hot weather, good ventilation is required.), in winter – +12-15 city, (in heat it is necessary to illuminate). No marked dormant period. New Guinea hybrids are more demanding on heat |
| Watering | During the period of active growth - plentiful, after drying the top layer of the substrate, in autumn and winter - moderate and less often. It is impossible to allow waterlogging and drying of an earthen coma |
| Transfer | In the spring (if necessary, can be transshipped in the summer), in a pot according to the size of the root system. The plant blooms best in a cramped flowerpot.. Substrate: loose mixture of leafy soil, turf, sand (3:1:1) |
| Top dressing | From spring to autumn, a couple of times a month with complex mineral fertilizers for flowering species - 1/2 doses. bushes, that bloom in winter, fed with a weaker solution |
| Pruning | In the spring. The stems are shortened 1 /2, and when the new growth reaches the desired height, pinch the tops of the shoots for tillering and abundant flowering. Weak and thickening bush branches can be removed at any time of the year. |
SEASON WITH "FIRE"
So that the bushes of Waller's and New Guinean balsams already in June "lit" with different colors, I sow the seeds in early February. But sowing is only half the battle., the main thing is to grow healthy seedlings.
STRONG SEEDINGS OF BALSAM
Seeds are sown in universal soil, lightly sprinkled with vermiculite. I spray, cover with clingfilm and keep at temperature +22-25 city. Ventilate the greenhouse daily.
Shoots of "light" need cooler conditions (+20-21 city.) and place under the lamp, to light
howling day was no less 10 hours. Increase airing time. I keep the soil evenly moist.
After the appearance 2-3 real leaves dive seedlings (with a lump of earth) in cups of 100 r. Substrate: garden soil, purchased soil based on peat and humus (1:1:1).
If the variety does not bush well, during regrowth 5-9 I pinch the tops of the leaves for the development of side shoots.
At the end of March, I plant balsams in larger containers (diameter 12-15 cm) and with the appearance of buds I put it on a bright glazed veranda, where is the temperature + 16-18 city. Plants stay there until heat is established outside. (not less +10 city, at night).
© Author: Svetlana ROGOVA. Nizhny Novgorod region.
BALSAM – BENEFICIAL FEATURES
I have been growing Waller's balsam for a long time, but I couldn't even guess., that the plant will be a real salvation for me.
"Spark" feels great on the eastern windowsill, where I do not shade. In the heat I spray and water abundantly. Waterlogging the flower does not threaten, since water does not stagnate in the substrate. I feed balsam a couple of times a month with complex fertilizer for flowering species. All summer cuttings. I put the shoots in the water or immediately plant them in the ground.
With hemorrhoids: apply to nodes 15-20 minutes crushed fresh leaves or swab, soaked in an infusion of them (1 st.l.. pour 1 Art. boiling water for half an hour).
© Author: Valentina LAPPO. r. Brest photo by Tatiana Sanchuk
BALSAM – LANDING AND CARE
